Wrong. Wrong Again. It's OK

Monument Beach, Cape Cod, Mass, N 41 43.181 W 70 37.173

Sunday, September 10, 2005

I told my sister Nancy that the weather might not be nice Saturday morning, and therefore we should not go sailing with Marilyn. Wrong. It was a lovely morning. We met anyhow, onshore in downtown Marblehead for lunch and for a walk around the town. That was very nice. While we were waiting to meet Nancy, Libby and I watched the crews of two ocean racing sailboats prepare to leave. The boats were part of something called Challenge Cup 2006. There were two identical boats, both perhaps 70 feet long, both with crews of about 25 people each. All the people in the crews seemed very young, very athletic, very fit and experienced about the boat and the equipment. That must make for formidable racing. I'll post pictures.

I told the dock master that thunderstorms were forecast for Saturday afternoon. He doubted me and looked up his own forecast which said no. I was wrong. The afternoon was lovely.

We left Marblehead around 1600 and set sail for the Cape Cod canal expecting fair weather and light winds overnight. The winds were brisk. Around 2000, outside of Boston, we were hit by thunderstorms, and had to scramble to put the electronics in the oven.

The Cape Cod Canal has very strong currents, and I determined that the current would switch in our direction around noon on Sunday. I timed our departure to arrive at the canal entrance about then. Wrong. The wind was brisker than I thought, and by 2 AM we figured out that we would arrive there about 6 AM; just as the current would turn *against* us. When we figured that out, we were near Plymouth Mass (where Plymouth Rock is). I normally would not attempt to enter a strange harbor at night, but looking at the chart I could see that we could anchor just behind Duxbury Light without complicated maneuvering. We also had clear sky and a nearly full moon to light things up. So we did put in and anchor in Duxbury Bay for a little nap. That worked out well.

In the morning the weather appeared to be cold and stormy. The forecast said 20-25 knot winds with gusts to 30. In addition, our GPS went crazy. It insisted that the currents in the canal would be 25 knots! A week before and a week after it said 4 knots current, but this week 25 knots. That's crazy. Anyhow, I had visions of entering the canal with a 30 know wind behind us, the motor running and with a 25 knot current. That would have pushed us through at 40 miles per hour.

The reality was, that as we entered the canal, the current was 0.25 knots, the sun came out, and we were sheltered from the wind. With the combined effects of wind, motor and current, we traveled at 4.8 knots. A girl on roller blades on the bike path next to the canal was going faster than we were and passed us. Wrong wrong wrong.

We didn't mind being wrong so many times, we had a lovely day sailing. It was really fun watching the people on the bike path, walking, running, riding, and catching big fish. By the time we got to the end of the canal, the current picked up and we were moving 8.8 knots.

Now we're anchored in a nice sheltered little cove, just on the Buzzard's Bay side of the canal. We plan to stay here all day tomorrow, waiting out the bad weather on the fringes of hurricane Florence.

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More Marblehead

Marblehead Mass, N 42 29.887 W 70 50.834

Friday, September 8 2006

I got a picture of myself next to the Seaman's Memorial in Gloucester this morning. That statue is one of the most recognizable icons in the world. I stopped at the C of C to pick up a tourist map. The thing they were handing out is a Perfect Storm attractions map. It shows where to find the pier, the bar, the memorial, and other places around Gloucester that were seen in the movie. It's amazing what an effect a movie can have on a locality. I bet that bar sees zero fishermen and 100% tourists nowadays.

My plan was to sail to Salem today, anchor there overnight and come to Marblehead on Saturday to meet Nancy. We did that, but when we got to Salem Harbor all I could see was a big power plant, piles of coal, and lots of unattractive industrial shoreline. Yuck. We changed our minds and came to Marblehead again.

Tomorrow we meet with Nancy and Marilyn for lunch. After that we'll probably take off and head for the Cape Cod Canal. That's part of our Florence avoidance strategy. Florence will make for dangerous seas starting Sunday and lasting until the middle of next week. We plan to hide out those days in one of the several good anchorages at the north end of Buzzards Bay. To get there we have a run of 47 miles to the canal entrance and we have to time it so that we arrive at a time with favorable currents. A Sunday morning departure would be too late because we have to hit the canal between noon and 1800. We'll leave Saturday evening instead and sail overnight. I hope to arrive at the canal around noon on Sunday and we'll be at anchor in Buzzard's Bay before 1700.

Our backup plan is to stop and anchor in Plymouth Mass.

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The Wyoming

This picture shows a sculpture of the sailing vessel Wyoming. The bow and stern are represented in actual size and actual position where she was built in Bath Maine. She was the largest sailing vessel ever built in America. Wow!
 

Gloucester

Gloucester Mass, N 42 36.679 W 70 39.297

Thursday, September 7, 2006

This morning I planned to row ashore and explore the islands in the Isles of Shoals, however a nice north wind came up, and I changed my mind to take advantage of it. The north wind and pleasant temperatures made for a fine sail from the isles down to Gloucester. Gloucester is one place we didn't see on the way North so we'd like to do it today.

We entered Gloucester Harbor via the Annisquam River. In general we really like exploring rivers, but this wasn't one of the best ones. The scenery wasn't that good and the hazards were many, shoaling, foul currents, and very very narrow passages under the bridges. In this case, I wish we had sailed the long way around Cape Ann. Oh well, they can't all be winners.

Gloucester Harbor lives up to its image. It really does have a big fishing fleet. Its shores really are lined with fishery related businesses. The monument to 'Men Who Go Down To The Sea' sits prominently on the shore. It's a charming place. We didn't spot the bar that was featured in the Perfect Storm story, but my sister says that it's still here.

One sour note. We navigated to the designated anchorage area only to find it filled with moorings. Gloucester is yet another one of those places that have converted all their anchorages to moorings. This time it cost us $25 to rent a mooring in the place where we would have liked to have anchored. Grrrrr.

Tomorrow morning we'll play tourist and see what we can find downtown.

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Isles of Shoals

Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire N 42 58.758 W 70 36.793

The State of Maine is 500 feet away from us, yet already I miss it.

It took 22 hours to sail down here, with the last few hours spent motoring. The weather report was totally wrong. Neigher the forecast wind nor the forecast rain ever appeared. In fact, after midnight when we were supposed to get steady rain, the stars came out. It has been sunny all day.

We had wildlife last night. Both Libby and I saw dolphins and seals and some kind of sea bird that would fly along side us for a while and hitch a ride other times. Regrettably, we never saw puffins or whales during our Maine trip.

Now we are back at Isles of Shoals where we spent a nice with Nancy and Lena last July. This time it is very uncrowded (post Labor Day). Tomorrow morning we'll do some hiking on the island.

There is a very loud fog horn here that sounds every 30 seconds, 24x7. Instead of being annoying, we think that the sound is soothing. It is somewhat like the sound of a railroad at night, part of the normal background that noisy yet reassuring.

This afternoon I listened to President Bush's speech about terrorism and Guantanamo, and then I listened on NPR to a whole string of commentators who attacked everything he said and who reiterated what they have been saying all along totally ignoring what Bush said. I'm afraid that it's true what they say about America today. We are not only polarized, but the poles don't hear anything that the other side says. In theory, a charismatic leader could come along to help us break out of this cycle, but that's hard to imagine. What will happen to us? Will we simply degrade into ineffective impertinence as we spend our resources bickering internally? Will we find a way to effectively divide the USA into two countries, one red and the other blue?

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